Equal and Forever is a celebration of love, equality, and the pursuit of happiness.

A Stuning Wedding at the Moana Surfrider Hotel in Waikiki Beach, Hawaii

“All of my friends already knew Eddie. He was managing the Planet Hollywood hotel in Las Vegas and my friends would go to Vegas and he would hook them up. I was supposed to go once, but something else came up, so I never met him and only heard of this Vegas Eddie. So, in March of 2010 I went to New Orleans for my friend’s Bachelor/Bachelorette Party. We arrived on Friday, March 19th and started drinking early. We were walking down Bourbon Street and turned the corner at St. Ann when Eddie came around the corner. Everyone I was with knew Eddie and saw him and yelled “Eddie!” So, I met Eddie for the first time in front of the Bourbon Pub. I just thought he was so handsome. I have a thing for gray hair. We met and hit it off right away.

Later that night (okay, within five minutes) I was coming onto him. Our friend pulled out his phone and started recording me hitting on Eddie. We have our first kiss recorded and our friend in the background saying, “Wouldn’t it be wild if they ended up together?” Eddie was just stopping for the night in New Orleans on his way back to Atlanta, but ended up staying the whole weekend and came with us to all the weekend party events. He was living in Atlanta at the time and we ended up taking a few trips to get to know each other. We met in Vegas for a weekend and Boston for a weekend. Eddie then got a job in Trinidad, in the Caribbean. He was planning to go for a year, but the job was not what he wanted, so he moved back to Houston, where I was. He was planning to move in with his sister, her husband, two kids and their mom until he figured out his next move. I was excited to see him again and suggested that he move in with me since I was living alone in a four bedroom house. He didn’t want to be a bother or move too fast, but I insisted. Everything was great after that. In December 2012, we went on a cruise. While sitting at The Red Frog Pub on the Carnival Magic, we were talking about names. I said that boyfriend seems too juvenile, partner seems too professional, and husband is not accurate until we get married. Eddie took off my ring and said, let’s get married, and put it back on my finger. I said yes and the rest is history.”